Final Reflection

In final analysis of this class this may have been my favorite class I have ever taken. What's not to like in a class where the instructor basically says exams are pointless? It was fantastic.The most formative experience was when I reached out to a fellow entrepreneur because the discussion we had was worth so  much to me. The experience I don't think I will forget would be the "Free Money" exercise because I have never seen so many people be shocked that they were receiving just a dollar. But this also was my most joyous experience because seeing the faces on people that are just so happy about a dollar makes me feel like I actually did something to make a difference in their lives. Currently, I feel like all the assignments and experiences I have created and made have no doubt made an entrepreneur out of me. Now, I constantly walk into a restaurant or an establishment of some sorts, and I try to find things that aren't working so well and I devise a plan to fix them. Most of the time I just tell someone my idea and they laugh at my attention to detail. My main point of advice for people that will be taking this journey in the future would be to not be scared. Yes, this class and some of the assignments can be intimidating but in the end you'll learn something and it will be well worth the trouble. You need to think like an entrepreneur and the best way to do this would be to always question how things work and what can improve the efficiency of that process.

Elevator Pitch Number 4!

Reflection:
Overall, I think all of my elevator pitches went smoothly and I received good reviews across the board. Many people seemed on board with my ideas which encouraged me to keep trucking along throughout the semester. One thing that I personally thought I needed to change in my videos was that I was too up tight and nervous. It seemed like in all of my pitches I was standing in front of a million people about to talk. This isn't true. It literally is just me in the room so I don't understand. Anyway, one way I tried to change this was I tried a more relaxed approach and tried to relate to my target audience by making subtle joke about myself. Hope you like the new revision.

Week 15 Reading Reflection:

1. The biggest surprise to me and I think the whole point of the article is that His company, which provides  has a customer base that has been nearly tripling each year and now numbers more than 2 million
2. One part of the reading that was confusing to me was the fact that the company only focused on women, I think he would be able to make more money and have more of a profit margin if he focused on both men and females.
3. Two questions: 
    1. What happened to Saryamma and how does her story relate?
    2. What is his next step for SKS?
4. One thing I disagreed with the author was the fact that he said women are more likely to invest their money into their household and to support others because for years women did not work and It was men that were the main bread winners in the family. 

Venture Concept #2

Opportunity: 
 If you have sat at home, belly empty and grumbling, so hungry that your stomach is literally screaming for attention then my product is like a match made in heaven. My product the "I'm Hungry" app, of which is available on multiple platforms, is designed directly for college students that live on or near their campus. This service is meant for those who do not have access to a car or reliable transportation to the grocery store but it isn't limited to just them. For instance, if you do have a car but just don't have the energy to get out of bed, trust me I have been there, with a simple click through my app you will have the ingredients needed to make a perfectly nutritious meal. The reason why I am offering this service is because I saw an opportunity. When young adults come to these college campus the excitement of living on your own and finally being away from parent supervision leads them to overlook certain details about being on your own. One detail being that now you are responsible for feeding yourself. When I got to college, I was ill prepared and the first week I was here I ended up getting really sick. Part of the blame I put on not feeding myself the proper nutrients that a growing adult needs. I had no idea what to cook and how to cook it. I have always had the assumption that a hot and ready meal will be ready for me when I get home because that is the luxury I have been living in but when I got to college I was sadly mistaken. Then I thought, "Why not just get fast food all the time?". The reason is clear, this will make you fatter than you ever thought possible and will also cost you a fortune. 
Innovation:
This is where my product comes in.  It is meant for those kids who just don't understand what it means to be a young adult and they need a little help. The service I am offering is an app that would be available across multiple platforms. This app harnesses a plethora of recipes that will list the exact nutritional make up of each ingredient. The consumer will be allowed to search through each and once they find something that is interesting, with a clock of a button, they can have the exact ingredients delivered to their doorstep. How does this happen? This is where the magic happens. This is where an employee of mine will actually go to the grocery store and shop for you. They will pick up the exact ingredients and proportions of each that you list. Then once picked up, they simply drop off your ingredients and you can get to cooking. Now you might be asking how will food being delivered to someone who doesn't know how to cook help them? Easy! Within the app you have the option to read the recipe and it will tell you step by step, with video descriptions, on how to cook each ingredient. With today's increased technological presence this app allows for the simple transition from child to a young adult that can take care of themselves. All you have to do is pay for your groceries through an online portal and then pay the delivery fee, this is the revenue that my company will use to hire drivers and allocate to resources. 
 Venture Concept:
Now step back, How does this sound to you? Pretty good huh? Exactly, with this product you won't ever have to wait in the long lines of Publix or have to deal with putting on pants so that you look "appropriate" out in public. Why listen to the nags of others that you are wearing your pj's out in public when you can just stay in and still get food. Additionally, the benefit of ordering groceries instead of ordering fast food or delivery food is endless. To start the health benefit of cooking over eating processed food like burgers will help a college student eat nutritious. Being a college student is tough. Having to deal with juggling your studies and also having a social life can get tricky, so don't let the ease of having fast food get to you because the freshman 15 is real. Instead, order groceries, have ingredients to make a delicious and nutritious meal delivered to you so that you can learn how to cook and how to take care of yourself.  At first this may be a hard task to ask college students but eventually (once the money runs out) I have all the reason to believe that my service will be beneficial. My competitors would be other delivery services such as Domino's or Papa John's but the nutritional value of the products you can by with my service compared to delivery food is very one-sided being groceries having the upper hand.
Three Minor Elements:
1. My  most important resource would be the laziness of college students. Let's be real if you were told that you didn't have to do something you didn't want to do for a small fee you will probably take that offer. This is the case for groceries, no one likes going to the grocery store. It seems you always see someone you know there and you are always bogged down by the long lines.
2. The next thing for my company would be to research into proper transportation for hot and cold items. Currently I would see having a cooler to be our number one tool when transporting ingredients but what if we could deliver things hot too? Say for instance someone orders a steak meal and for them we heat up the steaks, or get them ready. How can we do this? My idea would be to invest in a warmer or an oven like cooler sized instrument that can store food during the transportation to your doorstep.
3. In five years my company has so much potential that it could be a household name when discussing useful apps. One day this service may not be limited to college campuses and perhaps bigger cities and deliver the food to residential neighborhoods. In five years my biggest goal would be to partner with the university to ensure that college students know about my product. I think getting my name out there is my biggest hill I need to climb in order to be successful. 
Reflection:
Overall my feedback on my product in almost all of my blog post was that this product has a huge demand base. If only I had the capital and resources to actually make this plan happen. I think that most people saw that they could be delivered food without moving and said immediately said it was a good idea. It's quiet simple. In order to satisfy my targeted demographics, college students, I have to cater to their laziness. Unfortunately because all the feedback I received there was no actual business concept of mine that I saw to be flawed.  One thing that I wanted to clarify based on feedback was that this is a healthy alternative and a cheaper alternative than eating fast food all the time of which one person insisted on doing. 

Google Gold

1.  My main strategies for search engine optimization was to post my link to my blog as much as possible. On every page I visited throughout this semester, I tried to relate my peers troubles with mine and send them to see my product and what my brand is all about. I also learned how to use LinkedIn and take advantage of its circles and connections.
2. I kept keywords pretty simple, labeling each post with the correct week and the correct assignment title, in some cases catered around my product.
3. I linked my blog to my LinkedIn account and Facebook account which allowed me to connect my friends and colleagues on both platforms to my product. I immediately got some recognition between my friends and family because they were interested in what I was portraying as.
4. My most viral post was "Identifying Local Opportunities" where I found news articles and commented on them, I guess I had good comments about the article.
5. Yeah I made it to the front page of google when you just search my name and blog, that's convenient.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1.  I thought it was interesting to see a lot of the concepts that were taught to me in my management class and how they are introduced from an entrepreneurship perspective.
2. I did not find anything confusing because I thought a lot of it was review for me.
3. Two questions:
    1. What is the most common example of intrapreneurship?
    2. Why is it important for managers to promote innovation and also be a source of innovation?
4. I did not disagree with the author.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

1. First I like to preface this assignment with the fact that I did not complete the original visit with an entrepreneur. Timing did not work out for the entrepreneur so I sacrificed the grade. However, I figured this should not mean that I can't complete this next assignment. Rather I just did it in a different way. The entrepreneur I decided to interview is the Mayor of Fort Myers, my home town. Mayor Henderson has opened a real estate company and has also work as a  manager in multiple banks in Fort Myers. Here is the interview:

2.  Even though this was the first time talking to Mayor Henderson I felt like we were able to discuss topics about Fort Myers Economy for hours. He is a very interesting person. I think Mayor Henderson though highly of me and he reported that in his follow up email he sent me after our interview. I think by talking to him I have achieved a grasp on talking to connections and mentors in the industry of entrepreneurship.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

The most interesting thing for me that I read in this chapter was all the ways your business can be valued. What confused me was that there are so many entrepreneurs that don't take advantage of knowing their value of the business. If you overcompensate this could get ugly and if you don't realize your potential you'll be stuck at mediocrity. Two questions for the author: 1. What is the most effective way to improve your value? 2. What value do you put on making this book as a part of your brand? I did not find the reading to disagree with any of my opinions.

Celebrating Failure

 

1.  One thing that I have failed at this semester is saving money. I bring up this situation because it is the most frustrating thing in the world. This semester, just like any other, I said I was going to make a conscious effort to save my money by bargain shopping. This sadly didn't happen. Week by week I went to the grocery store and rang out the big bucks. This taking a huge toll on my wallet and bank account.
2. Many thing can be taken from this. For one I have learned that I have expensive food habits. It seems to me the more I like it, the more it costs. I don't know if this is different for other people though. What I can realize from this is that no matter how hard I try to save there were always be a certain amount of money that will go towards food. Now that I have realized this I can budget my money to properly allocate my spending.
3. Personally, I handle failure terribly. I get really angry at the situation and then disappointed with myself. It is like a never ending cycle, but I want the cycle to continue because without failure it would be hard to learn anything. If I was scared of failure, I would do nothing in the world but on the contrary I have used failure to prepare myself for the bigger struggles I will one day face. 

My Exit Strategy

1. My exit strategy is to eventually sell the company to the university for a large profit. I think the university would buy the company once they see how much it is saving them on parking issues.
2. I want to do this because I think if the university was to buy this company it would be able to be broadcasted to everyone that comes here. This way the company will have a lasting impact on the Gainesville area once I have left and graduated.
3. This exit strategy I have thought of since the beginning.The company I have created can only keep a man entertained for so long so I think having a good exit strategy allows for you to create another idea. This is why I created my business centered around college students. If students rave about the service then the University would be silly to not buy the company from me.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1. The most surprising element of the reading was all the possible ways an entrepreneur can screw up by not preparing for things to happen.
2. I thought it was confusing that so many entrepreneurs have failed when they could simply plan ahead to make things work out.
3. Two questions:
           1.  When do you think is the best time to make a strategic plan?
           2. Is it possible to have economic growth with long term failure
4. I did not disagree with the author.